New Moon (2009 Film)
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''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' (or simply ''New Moon'') is a 2009 American romantic fantasy film directed by Chris Weitz from a screenplay by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the 2006 novel ''
New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...
'' by
Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...
. It is the sequel to ''
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
'' (2008) and the second installment in ''The Twilight Saga'' film series. The film stars Kristen Stewart,
Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. #Filmography, His filmography often sees him portraying eccentric characters across a diverse range of genres. Known for starring in both major studio productions and in ...
, and Taylor Lautner, reprising their roles as Bella Swan, Edward Cullen, and Jacob Black, respectively. In the film, Bella gets closer with Jacob, who is a werewolf, after Edward leaves her, but when the vampire decides to take a drastic move, she must make a decision between the two.
Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment, LLC (formerly the Summit Group, Summit Export Group, Summit Entertainment Group Inc., Summit Entertainment Limited, Summit Films Limited, and Summit Entertainment N.V.) is an American film production label of Lionsgate Film ...
announced it had greenlit the film on November 22, 2008, following the early success of ''Twilight''.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
began on March 23, 2009, in
Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...
, Canada, and ended in Montepulciano, Italy on May 29. ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon'' premiered at the Mann Village Theater in Westwood, California on November 16, 2009, and was theatrically released in the United States on November 20, by Summit Entertainment. The film received generally negative reviews from critics, but grossed $711 million worldwide, becoming the seventh-highest-grossing film of 2009. It set domestic box office records as the biggest midnight opening in the United States and Canada, grossing $26.3 million, which was superseded by its sequel, '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. This led to the highest single-day domestic gross on an opening day, with $72.7 million, until it was beaten by ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...
'' (2011). The film also became the widest independent release, playing in 4,024 theaters, until it was surpassed by ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. ''New Moon'' was released on DVD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
on March 20, 2010. As of July 2012, the film has grossed $184.9 million in North American DVD sales, selling more than 8.8 million units, four million of which were sold within its first weekend, beating ''Twilight''s 3.8 million units sold in its first two days. The film received three sequels, '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'', '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1'', and '' The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2'', in 2010, 2011, and 2012, respectively.


Plot

In
Forks, Washington Forks, also previously known as the unincorporated town of Quillayute, is a town in southwest Clallam County, Washington, Clallam County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 3,335 at the 2020 United States Census, 2 ...
, on Bella Swan's eighteenth birthday, she awakens from a dream in which she is an old woman and Edward Cullen, her immortal
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
boyfriend, is forever young. Edward's family hosts a birthday reception for Bella at their home. After she receives a paper cut and is almost attacked by a bloodthirsty Jasper Cullen, Edward realizes he has put her life in danger by putting her amidst vampires. After rumors starting spreading of Carlisle's age and appearance, he ends their relationship and the Cullens leave town. Bella is left severely depressed and isolates herself for months, during which she has night terrors, enough to push her father, Charlie, to his breaking point where he considered relocating Bella to her mother's place. She accepts a ride from a biker and the dangerous encounter reminds her of a near-assault where Edward rescued her. She realizes that dangerous activities cause her to hallucinate his image. Her Quileute friend Jacob Black supports her during her slump. While attending a movie with Bella, Jacob abruptly shows signs of pain and leaves. He cuts his long hair and now exhibits the same Quileute tattoo as leader Sam and the other tribe members. He revealed that he knew the Cullens were vampires and inexplicably tells Bella to stay away. When Bella hikes to the meadow that she and Edward often visit, she is confronted by Laurent seeking to avenge the Cullens' past killing of James. A wolf pack saves her, killing Laurent, and Bella discovers that Jacob and the other tribe members are
werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (from Ancient Greek ), is an individual who can shapeshift into a wolf, or especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf–humanlike creature, either purposely or after bei ...
, with Jacob only recently gaining this shapeshifting ability. Their age-old enemies are vampires, though a treaty exists between the Cullens and the tribe. Edward believes that Bella has killed herself after his
clairvoyant Clairvoyance (; ) is the claimed ability to acquire information that would be considered impossible to get through scientifically proven sensations, thus classified as extrasensory perception, or "sixth sense". Any person who is claimed to ...
adoptive sister
Alice Alice may refer to: * Alice (name), most often a feminine given name, but also used as a surname Literature * Alice (''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''), a character in books by Lewis Carroll * ''Alice'' series, children's and teen books by ...
has a vision of her jumping off a seaside cliff and when he phones her house, Jacob answers saying her father is out preparing a funeral. Distraught, Edward travels to
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
to ask the vampire council, the
Volturi The following is a list of characters in the Twilight (novel series), ''Twilight'' novel series by Stephenie Meyer, comprising the books ''Twilight (Meyer novel), Twilight'', ''New Moon (novel), New Moon'', ''Eclipse (Meyer novel), Eclipse'' a ...
, to end his life. When they refuse, he plans to force their hand by exposing himself as a vampire to humans during a large festival. Alice and Bella arrive in time to prevent Edward from doing so. Overjoyed that Bella is alive, he confesses that he left Forks to protect her but promises never to leave her again. Edward defends Bella from the Volturi, who do not allow humans to know about their vampire society. As the Volturi are about to kill Edward, Bella asks that they kill her instead. Impressed by a human's willingness to sacrifice her life for a vampire's, they allow her the choice to be transformed into a vampire instead of dying, convinced when Alice shares a future vision of Bella as a vampire. After returning to Forks, Bella asks the Cullens to vote on her becoming a vampire. Despite Edward's protestations, everyone except Rosalie votes yes. Charlie is upset with her but allows Edward to be with her and grounds her for leaving with no explanation. Bella tells Edward she wants him to be the one to turn her into a vampire. Jacob confronts the pair, reminding Edward that the years-old treaty with Quileute will be broken if any Cullen bites a human, but Bella tells him it is her choice, not the Cullens'. Edward agrees to let her transform into a vampire only if she will marry him, leading to the next movie.


Cast

* Kristen Stewart as Bella Swan, a teenage girl who falls into a deep depression after her true love, Edward Cullen, leaves her. Her friendship with Jacob Black is expanded as she realizes that he can mend the hole left open by Edward. *
Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. #Filmography, His filmography often sees him portraying eccentric characters across a diverse range of genres. Known for starring in both major studio productions and in ...
as Edward Cullen, Bella's
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
boyfriend who abruptly leaves town to protect her. * Taylor Lautner as Jacob Black, a cheerful companion who eases Bella's pain over losing Edward. He reveals to Bella that he is part of a pack of werewolves whose main goal is to protect her from the
vampires A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
Laurent and Victoria. * Ashley Greene as Alice Cullen, a member of the Cullen family who can see "subjective" visions of the future and who develops a deep friendship with Bella * Rachelle Lefevre as Victoria Sutherland, a ruthless
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
who wants to avenge her lover, James This would be her final appearance as the character before being replaced by
Bryce Dallas Howard Bryce Dallas Howard (born March 2, 1981) is an American actress and director. The eldest child of filmmaker Ron Howard, she studied acting at the New York University Tisch School of the Arts. While portraying Characters in As You Like It#Rosali ...
in the next installment a year later. * Billy Burke as Charlie Swan, Bella's father and Forks' Chief of Police *
Peter Facinelli Peter Facinelli ( ; born November 26, 1973) is an American-Italian actor. He starred as Donovan "Van" Ray on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox series ''Fastlane (TV series), Fastlane'' from 2002 to 2003. He played Dr. Carlisle Cullen in the The ...
as Carlisle Cullen, leader and father figure of the Cullen family * Nikki Reed as Rosalie Hale, a member of the Cullen family *
Kellan Lutz Kellan Christopher Lutz (born March 15, 1985) is an American actor, martial artist and model. He made his film debut in '' Stick It'' (2006), and is best known for playing Emmett Cullen in ''The Twilight Saga'' film series (2008–2012). He has ...
as Emmett Cullen, a member of the Cullen family who is physically the strongest vampire of the family. * Jackson Rathbone as Jasper Hale, a member of the Cullen family who thirsts for Bella's blood after she receives a paper cut. He has the ability to manipulate emotions. *
Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, List of awards and nominations received by Anna Kendrick, her accolades include nominations for an Aca ...
as Jessica Stanley, Bella's self-involved friend *
Michael Sheen Michael Christopher Sheen (born 5 February 1969) is a Welsh actor. After training at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), he worked mainly in theatre throughout the 1990s with stage roles in ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1992), ''Don't Fool wi ...
as Aro, the leader of an ancient Italian vampire coven known as the Volturi * Dakota Fanning as Jane, a guard of the Volturi who has the ability to torture people with illusions of pain * Elizabeth Reaser as Esme Cullen, Carlisle's wife and the mother figure of the Cullen family * Edi Gathegi as Laurent Da Revin, a
vampire A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead humanoid creatures that often visited loved ones and c ...
who wants to kill Bella, because he thirsts for her blood * Noot Seear as Heidi, who leads the tourists into the Volturi's chamber and urges them to stay together while Demetri leads Bella, Alice and Edward in the opposite direction. Heidi's special ability is to make herself attractive to other people, regardless of species or gender. * Michael Welch as Mike Newton, Bella's friend who has a crush on her. He joins her on a date with Jacob. *
Chaske Spencer Chaske Spencer is an American actor. He gained prominence through his role as List of Twilight characters#Sam Uley, Sam Uley in the ''The Twilight Saga (film series), Twilight'' films (2009–2012). For his performance in the BBC and Amazon Prim ...
as Sam Uley,
Alpha Alpha (uppercase , lowercase ) is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of one. Alpha is derived from the Phoenician letter ''aleph'' , whose name comes from the West Semitic word for ' ...
of the Wolf Pack * Tyson Houseman as Quil Ateara * Kiowa Gordon as Embry Call * Alex Meraz as Paul Lahote * Bronson Pelletier as Jared Cameron *
Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquired a re ...
as Harry Clearwater, a Quileute elder and Charlie's friend * Gil Birmingham as Billy Black, a Quileute elder and Jacob's physically disabled father *
Christian Serratos Christian Marie Serratos MovieTome ( ; name at birth, born Bernardi on September 21, 1990) is an American actress, who is best known for portraying Rosita Espinosa in AMC's ''The Walking Dead (TV series), The Walking Dead'' TV series, based on the ...
as Angela Weber, Bella's shy but caring friend * Justin Chon as Eric Yorkie, Bella's friend and Angela's boyfriend * Tinsel Korey as Emily Young, Sam's imprinted fiancée whom he once hurt unintentionally *
Jamie Campbell Bower James Metcalfe Campbell Bower (born 22 November 1988) is an English actor and singer. He made his feature film debut in 2007 with a supporting role in '' Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street''. He went on to feature in '' The Twilight ...
as Caius, a Volturi elder who is very strict about vampire laws * Christopher Heyerdahl as Marcus, a Volturi elder who has the gift of seeing the relationship connections between people * Justine Wachsberger as Gianna, Volturi's human secretary * Cameron Bright as Alec, Jane's brother who has the ability to cut off senses *
Charlie Bewley Charles Martin Bewley (born 25 January 1981) is an English actor and producer best known for his role as the vampire The Volturi, Demetri in ''The Twilight Saga (film series), The Twilight Saga'' films, Galen Vaughn on ''The Vampire Diaries'' ( ...
as Demetri, a Volturi guard who is a gifted tracker * Daniel Cudmore as Felix, a Volturi guard who has supreme strength


Production


Development

In early November 2008,
Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment, LLC (formerly the Summit Group, Summit Export Group, Summit Entertainment Group Inc., Summit Entertainment Limited, Summit Films Limited, and Summit Entertainment N.V.) is an American film production label of Lionsgate Film ...
obtained the
film adaptation A film adaptation transfers the details or story of an existing source text, such as a novel, into a feature film. This transfer can involve adapting most details of the source text closely, including characters or plot points, or the original sou ...
rights to the remaining novels in the ''Twilight'' book series, ''
New Moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...
'', ''
Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...
'', and ''
Breaking Dawn ''Breaking Dawn'' (stylized as ''breaking dawn'') is the 2008 fourth novel in Twilight (novel series), ''The Twilight Saga'' by American author Stephenie Meyer. Divided into three parts, the first and third sections are written from Bella Swan' ...
''. On November 22, 2008, one day after the theatrical release of ''
Twilight Twilight is daylight illumination produced by diffuse sky radiation when the Sun is below the horizon as sunlight from the upper atmosphere is scattered in a way that illuminates both the Earth's lower atmosphere and also the Earth's surf ...
'', Summit confirmed that they would begin working on ''New Moon''. Author
Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...
said, "I don't think any other author has had a more positive experience with the makers of her movie adaptation than I have had with Summit Entertainment." In early December 2008, it was announced that ''Twilight'' director Catherine Hardwicke would not be returning to direct the sequel. Hardwicke cited time restrictions as the reason behind her leaving the project. On December 13, 2008, it was announced that Chris Weitz had been hired to direct ''New Moon''. Weitz released a statement shortly after the announcement, assuring fans that he would "protect on their behalf the characters, hethemes and story they love." He continued by saying, "This is not a task to be taken lightly, and I will put every effort into realizing a beautiful film to stand alongside a beautiful book." Screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg had been working on adapting the novel prior to ''Twilight''s release and handed in the draft for ''New Moon'' during ''Twilight''s opening weekend in November 2008, adding, "I would sit down at ten o'clock in the morning and work on he script.. until six o'clock in the evening." Rosenberg spent the months of June through October 2008 alternating between writing for the Showtime television series '' Dexter'' and writing ''New Moon'' on weekends. She and Meyer kept in touch during this five-month period.


Casting

Due to major physical changes that occur in the character of Jacob Black between ''Twilight'' and ''New Moon'', Weitz considered replacing Taylor Lautner in the sequel with an actor who could more accurately portray "the new, larger Jacob Black". In an attempt to keep the role, Lautner weight-trained extensively and gained approximately 30 pounds. In January 2009, Weitz and Summit Entertainment announced that Lautner would continue to play the role of Jacob in the sequel. In an interview, fellow cast member Kristen Stewart talked about Lautner's transformation saying, "He's an entirely different person physically." Singer
Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Known for her autobiographical songwriting, artistic versatility, and Cultural impact of Taylor Swift, cultural impact, Swift is one of the Best selling artists, w ...
, a fan of ''Twilight'', requested a
cameo appearance A cameo appearance, also called a cameo role and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief guest appearance of a well-known person or character in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking on ...
in the film, but Wetiz declined as he felt it would be too distracting. In late March 2009, Summit Entertainment released a list of the actors who would be portraying the "wolf pack" alongside Lautner. The casting for the rest of the Quileute tribe was headed by casting director Rene Haynes, who has worked on films with large Native American casts, such as '' Dances with Wolves'' and '' Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee''. A casting call was also held in Vancouver in February 2009, specifically asking for "any first nations/aboriginal actors and actresses between the ages of 15 and 25".


Filming

Pre-production for ''New Moon'' began in December 2008.
Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as the ...
was scheduled to begin on March 23, 2009, in Vancouver, but began a few days early. Weitz envisioned a warm color palette for the sequel, contrary to the first film in the series, whose blue tones were prevalent. His intention resulted in golden tones, a change that was inspired by Italian paintings, and ultimately served as the basis for the crew's collaborative work. The approach also included the use of specific colors at certain points in the movie. For example, although Jacob's house is red, the color does not dominate until the climax of the movie. The director noted that, "The square becomes a flood of red, that's how conscious we were of every visual aspect." The use of film, rather than digital, cameras added to the "old-fashioned" nature of the production. Two main
Panavision Panavision Inc. is an American motion picture equipment company (law), company founded in 1954 specializing in cameras and photographic lens, lenses, based in Woodland Hills, Los Angeles, Woodland Hills, California. Formed by Robert Gottschalk a ...
cameras, a high-speed Arri 435 camera capable of shooting at 150 frames per second, a Steadicam, and
VistaVision VistaVision is a higher resolution, widescreen variant of the 35 mm motion picture film format that was created by engineers at Paramount Pictures in 1954. Paramount did not use anamorphic processes such as CinemaScope but refined the ...
cameras for visual effect shots were among the equipment used to bring the book to the big screen. As with the use of specific colors, the different cameras and shooting setups would help serve the story points. When Bella was with Edward, the camera was moved on a dolly, in a very rigid, straight line to reflect how their relationship was "perfect". When Bella is with Jacob, the Steadicam provides a fluid and organic style; and when she is with her schoolmates, a slangy visual language is reflected by a handheld. Once the film went into production, the decision to shoot in Vancouver, rather than in Portland, came after a debate on how to match the locations that were introduced in the first film. One member involved in the decision process pointed out that Vancouver had been scouted as a potential setting for ''Twilight'', and it was only because the U.S. dollar had, at that time, dropped below the
Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar (currency symbol, symbol: $; ISO 4217, code: CAD; ) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $. There is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviations Can$, CA$ and C$ are frequently used f ...
that Oregon drew ''Twilight'' principal photography to Portland and its surrounding areas. Vancouver was chosen because it allowed a higher production value, while the surrounding areas contained beautiful forests and gray weather. With this decision, however, came the issue of reconstructing key sets that were used in the first film. For the exterior of Forks High School, crew members were able to find a parking lot, but the school's steps needed to be filmed with a greenscreen backing to match those that were originally presented in ''Twilight''. David Thompson Secondary School would then be able to serve as the interior for the high school scenes. The Cullen house was one of the major "match" assignments, mainly because of the Portland area location's unique design. The production team agreed to find a house in the Vancouver area with an interior that emulated the high ceilings, glass walls, and forest surroundings of the first location. One location was positively compared to the one in Portland, and therefore Weitz and the production team filmed portions of the film there. To keep with the design of the original house, portions of the story that took place in ''New Moon'' were moved to different sections of the house that were not seen before. After scouting Vancouver for a place to film scenes that involved the Swan house, the decision was made to recreate the house on an empty lot with a tree line and approaching road. The production team was able to rearrange the exterior of the house to match that in the first movie. When faced with creating the interior, the team measured the house in Portland, and built various pieces of the house on the lot and on a stage in Vancouver. The second film also attempted to clarify the location of Bella's room, which, as seen in the first film, seemed to be located in the front of the house, when in reality it was on the right-hand side. Complications arose when the Portland house was repainted after ''Twilight''s release, which took away the aging the house had come to depict in the film. When recreating the house, the production team referenced the first film on high-definition
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
Disc. As a director, Weitz had the pleasure of introducing and filming on new locations and sets. Of particular interest was the Quileute reservation and Jacob's house. Using the Quileute country in Washington as a basis, the production team decided to place Jacob's house on the edges of the territory, rather than in the community, because of Jacob's attachment to the wolves. To Weitz, Jacob's house was the stepping stone into the forest world, where the reality of the werewolves is hidden. The production designer was faced with a "real world" versus "book world" challenge when the barn they located, described in the book as a red barn, was green. Initially bordered by a green fence, the decision of painting the barn, aging it, and renovating the exterior proved to be a layout that fit well with Jacob's character. After scouting more than twelve possible locations to film scenes that would take place in
Volterra Volterra (; Latin: ''Volaterrae'') is a walled mountaintop town in the Tuscany region of Italy. Its history dates from before the 8th century BC and it has substantial structures from the Etruscan, Roman, and Medieval periods. History ...
, Italy, the scouting team selected the town of Montepulciano, which they believe was the best representation of Meyer's description in the book. Principal photography concluded with the scenes that were filmed in this area from May 25 through the 29. For the face-off between the Volturi and Edward, the idea was to have a bigger "bang", rather than just the paralysis of Edward. Initially what was a huge battle with vampires being thrown everywhere turned into a one-on-one fight between Felix and Edward, after receiving a stamp of approval from Meyer. The idea quickly changed from the typical outlandish battle, to portraying Edward as an average guy caught in the middle of a bad situation; for Bella, conveying the feeling of being caught in the middle of a group of vampires fighting was important as well. This scene also required special effects, stunt work, and figuring out how to portray vampires fighting at very fast speeds.


Visual effects

Overseeing the visual effects department for ''New Moon'' was Susan MacLeod, who had previously worked with Weitz during the production of ''The Golden Compass''. MacLeod enlisted
Tippett Studio Tippett Studio is an American visual effects and computer animation company specializing in computer graphics (CG) for films and television commercials. The studio has created visual effects and animations on over fifty feature films and commerci ...
to create the computer-generated wolves, while Prime Focus of Vancouver handled the effects of the vampires. To prepare for the aggressive task of making the wolves look real, Tippet artists studied wolf culture. They also were able to reflect leadership and human muscle size by adjusting certain features of the wolves, such as their fat and height. In February 2009, a group of artists was able to travel to Wolf Mountain Sanctuary, outside of
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, and see real wolves. The artists were able to observe the behavior of both the
timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...
and
arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
wolves, who ran in packs of three to five. The idea was to give everyone a deeper feeling of the creature that they were creating. MacLeod explained that creating the shape-shifting werewolves was not an easy task. The wolf work included shooting "plates", or photographic imagery into which CG creations are integrated. Since the book described the wolves as being as big as horses, full-scale aluminum and board wolf cutouts were used as a visual reference for both actors and crew members. Once the actors had a reference, the cutouts would be removed allowing the cameras to capture the scene. In order for the CG wolves to be in sync with the live-action cameras and actors' movements, the team used match movers, a land surveying tool that recorded the shooting location's topography with reference marks. A raw 3D model of Jacob's wolf was the basis for creating the others. A muscle system, which gave the appearance of muscles firing and flexing, contributed to this model. From there, the initial fur layout went to painters who were responsible for its color and groom. They also added characteristics, such as wet hair clumping together, and applied it to the fur. They refined this look before passing it off to the lighting and technical directors. One challenge for the production team was how to convey Bella's depression once Edward departed. In the novel, these pages were filled with the names of the passing months, and in the movie, would be represented as a visual effects shot with a camera circling around Kristen Stewart. The window that was used for the original film did not quite fit what Weitz was looking for, so the production team created a bay window when recreating the Swan house. The effect was one of the 300 visual effects helmed by Prime Focus led by visual effects supervisor Eric Pascarelli. It required matching two camera shots: one that shot the actress in a chair, and the other shooting the view outside the window as seen from the house built on location. Using a greenscreen, Prime Focus was able to enhance the changing of seasons with computer-generated leaves and falling snow.


Music

The score for ''New Moon'' was composed by Alexandre Desplat while the rest of the soundtrack was chosen by music supervisor Alexandra Patsavas, who also produced the ''Twilight'' soundtrack. ''The Twilight Saga: New Moon: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack'' was released on October 16, 2009, by Patsavas's Chop Shop label, in conjunction with
Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...
. It debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 albums chart, and climbed to number one a week later after selling 153,000 copies in its first full week of release.


Distribution


Marketing

In February 2009 it was announced that the franchise would take the name ''The Twilight Saga'' with the book's title separated by a colon, though the title that appears on-screen is simply ''New Moon''. The first promotional poster was released on May 19, 2009. On May 31,
Robert Pattinson Robert Douglas Thomas Pattinson (born 13 May 1986) is an English actor. #Filmography, His filmography often sees him portraying eccentric characters across a diverse range of genres. Known for starring in both major studio productions and in ...
, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner revealed the film's first trailer at the
MTV Movie Awards The MTV Movie & TV Awards is a film and television awards show previously presented annually on MTV. It began as the MTV Movie Awards in 1992, when its 1992 MTV Movie Awards, first edition was held, and adopted its current name in 2017, beginnin ...
. Following the release of the trailer, two scenes from the film were presented at the 2009
San Diego Comic-Con San Diego Comic-Con is a comic book convention and multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California, at the San Diego Convention Center. Founded in 1970, originally showcasing primarily comic books and science fiction/fant ...
. A 14-second preview of the second trailer was released online on August 12, 2009, and the full-length trailer was featured before theater showings of the film '' Bandslam''. The film's third trailer was shown at the
MTV Video Music Awards The MTV Video Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as the VMAs) is an award show presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in the music video medium. Originally conceived as an alternative to the Grammy Awards (in the video category ...
on September 13, 2009.
Spike TV Paramount Network is an American basic cable television channel and the flagship property of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global, who operates it through the MTV Entertainment Group. The network's headquarters are locate ...
also aired a new trailer at the 2009 Scream Awards on October 27, 2009. ''
American Idol ''American Idol'' is an American Music competition, singing competition television series created by Simon Fuller, produced by Fremantle (company), Fremantle North America and 19 Entertainment, and distributed by Fremantle North America. It a ...
'' finalist Allison Iraheta hosted an 8-minute block prior to the showing of the film in over 1,200 theaters across the United States, where she talked about her upcoming album and played some tracks, including " Friday I'll Be Over U", "Pieces", and "Trouble Is". In addition, prior to the film's release, author
Stephenie Meyer Stephenie Meyer (; Morgan; born December 24, 1973) is an American novelist and film producer. She is best known for writing the vampire literature, vampire romance series ''Twilight (novel series), Twilight'', which has sold over 160 million ...
made an appearance on ''
The Oprah Winfrey Show ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Oprah Winfrey. The show ran for twenty-five seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in which it broadcast 4,561 episodes. The show was taped i ...
'' to promote the film.


Release

Many theater showings sold out as early as two months prior to ''New Moon'''s release date. The film set records for advance ticket sales, causing some theaters to add additional showings. The film is also the biggest advance ticket seller on
Fandango Fandango is a lively partner dance originating in Portugal and Spain, usually in triple metre, triple meter, traditionally accompanied by guitars, castanets, tambourine or hand-clapping. Fandango can both be sung and danced. Sung fandango is u ...
, surpassing '' Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith''. ''New Moon'' accounted for 86 percent of Fandango's online ticket sales the weekend before the film was released, and its total morning ticket sales on November 20, 2009, are estimated to total $13.9 million.


Home media

Various midnight release parties were held to help promote the film's DVD and
Blu-ray Blu-ray (Blu-ray Disc or BD) is a digital optical disc data storage format designed to supersede the DVD format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released worldwide on June 20, 2006, capable of storing several hours of high-defin ...
Disc release on March 20, 2010, in the
United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
and on March 22, 2010, in the United Kingdom. Special features include an audio commentary by director Chris Weitz and editor Peter Lambert, a behind-the-scenes documentary, and music videos. Unlike the DVD and Blu-ray Disc versions, the Ultimate Fan Edition DVD includes a 7-minute first look at the sequel, ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. Within its first weekend of release in the U.S., the film sold over 4 million units, beating ''Twilight'''s 3.8 million units sold in its first two days. In North American DVD sales, the film has currently grossed $185,166,822 and has sold more than 8,864,541 units.


Reception


Box office

''New Moon'' set records as the biggest midnight opening in domestic (United States and Canada)
box office A box office or ticket office is a place where ticket (admission), tickets are sold to the public for admission to an event. Patrons may perform the transaction at a countertop, through a hole in a wall or window, or at a Wicket gate, wicket. ...
history, grossing an estimated $26.3 million in 3,514 theaters. The record was previously held by ''
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ''Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'' is a fantasy novel written by British author J. K. Rowling. It is the sixth and penultimate novel in the ''Harry Potter'' series, and takes place during Harry Potter's sixth year at the wizard scho ...
'', which grossed $22.2 million domestically during its midnight premiere. In 2010, the following sequel, '' The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'', broke ''New Moon''s record with $30 million in over 4,000 theaters but surpassed by ''
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2 Harry may refer to: Television * ''Harry'' (American TV series), 1987 comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (New Zealand TV series), 2013 crime drama starring Oscar K ...
'', which made $43.5 million in 2011. The film grossed $72.7 million on its opening day domestically, becoming the biggest single-day opening in domestic history, beating ''
The Dark Knight ''The Dark Knight'' is a 2008 superhero film directed by Christopher Nolan, from a screenplay co-written with his brother Jonathan. Based on the DC Comics superhero Batman, it is the sequel to ''Batman Begins'' (2005), and the second inst ...
s $67.2 million. This opening strongly contributed to another record—the first time that the Top 10 films at the domestic box office had a combined gross of over $100 million in a single day. The record was later broken in 2011 by ''Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2'', which made $91.1 million. ''New Moon''s opening weekend is the ninth-highest opening weekend in domestic history with $142,839,137 and also is the tenth-highest worldwide opening weekend with $274.9 million total. At the time of its release, the film achieved the highest weekend debut in November, breaking ''Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'''s record ($102.7 million) until '' The Hunger Games: Catching Fire'' surpassed it with $158.1 million. With an estimated budget of just under $50 million, it is the least expensive movie to ever open to more than $200 million worldwide. On Thanksgiving weekend, the film grossed $42.5 million, and including Wednesday and Thursday ticket sales, grossed $66 million. It has earned $230.7 million in total since opening last week, 22% more than the previous film grossed in its entire theatrical run. Internationally, the film grossed roughly $85 million over the weekend, adding up to a total worldwide gross of $473.7 million in 10 days. In its third weekend ''New Moon'' grossed $15.7 million in the domestic market and another $40.7 million internationally for a worldwide gross of $570.1 million. In its fourth weekend, the film dropped down to #4 with an estimated $10 million, bringing its domestic total to $296,623,634.


Critical response

''New Moon'' received mixed to unfavorable reviews from critics. Review aggregator
Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...
reports that 28% of 228 critics gave the film a positive review, with a rating average of 4.7/10. The site's general consensus is that "''The Twilight Saga'''s second installment may satisfy hardcore fans of the series, but outsiders are likely to be turned off by its slow pace, relentlessly downcast tone and excessive length." On
Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...
, which assigns a
weighted mean The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
rating out of 100 reviews from film critics, the film has a rating score of 44 based on 32 reviews. Audiences polled by Cinemascore gave the film an "A−" grade. Robert Ignizio of the '' Cleveland Scene'' described the film as an "entertaining fantasy", and noted that it "has a stronger visual look han ''Twilight''and does a better job with its action scenes while still keeping the focus on the central love triangle." Michael O'Sullivan of ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' gave the film two-and-a-half stars out of four, praised Kristen Stewart's performance in the film and wrote, "Despite melodrama that, at times, is enough to induce diabetes, there's enough wolf whistle in this sexy, scary romp to please anyone." The ''
Seattle Post-Intelligencer The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington (state), Washington, United States. Th ...
'' gave the film a "B" grading and said, "the movie looks tremendous, the dialogue works, there are numerous well-placed jokes, the acting is on point." ''
Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 333 cities in 59 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition became ...
'' gave the film 4 stars out of 5, calling it "acceptable escapism for those old enough to see it yet still young enough to shriek at undead dreamboats." Jordan Mintzer from '' Variety'' stated, "Stewart is the heart and soul of the film", and added that she "gives both weight and depth to dialogue...that would sound like typical chick-lit blather in the mouth of a less engaging actress, and she makes Bella's psychological wounds seem like the real deal." British film critic Mark Kermode gave the film a positive review, saying, "After an initial 20-minute dip, when I thought, 'This is actually going to be two hours of mopey-mopey,' I thought it found its feet." He also excused the film's characterization of Taylor Lautner's character, saying, "The sight of the buff, young guys running through the forest with their tops off was slightly smirk-inducing. But it's fine. They know what their target audience is." Mick Lasalle from the ''
San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...
'' responded with a more mixed review, stating, " pect this film to satisfy its fans. Everybody else, get ready for a bizarre soap opera/pageant, consisting of a succession of static scenes with characters loping into the frame to announce exactly what they're thinking."
Digital Spy Digital Spy (DS) is a British-based entertainment, television and film website and brand and is the largest digital property at Hearst UK. Since its initial launch in 1999, Digital Spy has focused on entertainment news related to television pro ...
gave the film 2 stars out of 5, praising Kristen Stewart for "carrying the film on her shoulders and, once again, bringing plenty of soul to a character who might otherwise come across as self-indulgent", but was critical of its lack of action, ultimately calling it "a draining experience".
Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert ( ; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American Film criticism, film critic, film historian, journalist, essayist, screenwriter and author. He wrote for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. Eber ...
gave the film 1 star out of 4 and said that it "takes the tepid achievement of ''Twilight'', guts it, and leaves it for undead."
Richard Roeper Richard E. Roeper (born October 17, 1959) is an American writer. He is a former columnist and film critic for the '' Chicago Sun-Times'', where he wrote for 39 years dating back to 1986 until his departure in 2025. He co-hosted the television s ...
graded ''New Moon'' with a C− and called it a "plodding, achingly slow, 130-minute chapter in the saga".


Accolades

Since its release, ''New Moon'' has received several nominations and awards. In March 2010, the film received the ShoWest Fandango Fan Choice Award for 2009's Best Movie. At the 2010 Empire Awards, Pattinson was nominated for Best Actor and
Anna Kendrick Anna Cooke Kendrick (born August 9, 1985) is an American actress. Known for playing upbeat and endearing characters in comedies and musicals, List of awards and nominations received by Anna Kendrick, her accolades include nominations for an Aca ...
was nominated for Best Newcomer, the film won the award for Best Fantasy Film, while Pattinson won an award for Best Performance. At the 2010 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, the film was nominated for Best Movie, but lost to '' Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel'', Lautner won an award for Favorite Movie Actor, and Jacob and Bella, who were also nominated alongside Edward and Bella, won an award for Best Couple. At the 2010 MTV Movie Awards, Pattinson, who was nominated alongside Stewart and Lautner, won the award for Global Superstar; the Best Male Performance award was also given to Pattinson, who was, again, nominated against Lautner. Stewart and Pattinson won the award for Best Kiss, while ''New Moon'' won the award for Best Movie. For the 2010 Teen Choice Awards, held on August 8, the film and its actors were given a combined total of ten nominations, eight of which the film won, and three separate awards going to ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. In addition, the film was nominated for Best Horror Film and Taylor Lautner was nominated for Best Performance by a Younger Actor at the 36th Saturn Awards, but lost to '' Drag Me to Hell'' and Saoirse Ronan, respectively. Lautner was also nominated for Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Actor at the 2010 Young Artist Awards. However, it was nominated for four Razzies: Worst Supporting Actor (Robert Pattinson), Worst Screen Couple (Kristen Stewart and either Taylor Lautner or Robert Pattinson), Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-off or Sequel, and Worst Screenplay.


Sequel

In February 2009,
Summit Entertainment Summit Entertainment, LLC (formerly the Summit Group, Summit Export Group, Summit Entertainment Group Inc., Summit Entertainment Limited, Summit Films Limited, and Summit Entertainment N.V.) is an American film production label of Lionsgate Film ...
scheduled a film adaptation of ''
Eclipse An eclipse is an astronomical event which occurs when an astronomical object or spacecraft is temporarily obscured, by passing into the shadow of another body or by having another body pass between it and the viewer. This alignment of three ...
'', the third novel in the ''Twilight'' series, for release on June 30, 2010. Weitz would not be able to direct the third film of ''The Twilight Saga'' as it would be filming while ''New Moon'' would be in post-production.
David Slade David Aldrin Slade (born 26 September 1969) is an English film and television director and actor. His works include the films ''Hard Candy (film), Hard Candy'', ''30 Days of Night (film), 30 Days of Night'' and ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse''. ...
was therefore confirmed as the director of ''The Twilight Saga: Eclipse'' on April 22, 2009.


See also

*
Vampire films Vampire films have been a staple in world cinema since the era of silent films, so much so that the depiction of vampires in popular culture is strongly based upon their depiction in films throughout the years. The most popular cinematic adaptat ...


References


External links

* * * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Twilight Saga: New Moon 2009 films 2000s romantic fantasy films 2000s teen romance films 2000s American films American romantic fantasy films American sequel films American teen romance films Films based on American novels Films directed by Chris Weitz Films produced by Karen Rosenfelt Films scored by Alexandre Desplat Films set in Italy Films set in Washington (state) Films shot in Tuscany Films shot in Vancouver Films with screenplays by Melissa Rosenberg 2000s teen fantasy films Summit Entertainment films Temple Hill Entertainment films 2 American werewolf films Films produced by Wyck Godfrey American vampire films Films set in a movie theatre 2000s English-language films Fiction about human–werewolf romance English-language romantic fantasy films Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award–winning films Teen Choice Award winning films